Trump criticises Twitter in tweet, urges 'fairer' social media

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FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump attends the 2019 White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 22, 2019. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday called for the creation of “more, and fairer” social media companies in response to discrimination he said he has faced as a Republican from Twitter Inc.

He also cheered the involvement of U.S. lawmakers, who have called on executives from several technology companies to testify in connection to various scandals.

“No wonder Congress wants to get involved - and they should,” he wrote on Twitter.

Trump has one of the most-followed accounts on Twitter, with nearly 60 million followers, but he has repeatedly criticized the company and its social media competitors for what he has called bias against conservatives.

He has accused Twitter and other tech companies of restricting the visibility of prominent U.S. Republicans, though he has not provided evidence to back up the claim.

“We enforce the Twitter Rules dispassionately and equally for all users, regardless of their background or political affiliation. We are constantly working to improve our systems and will continue to be transparent in our efforts,” a Twitter representative said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump’s comments came the same day Twitter reported its first-quarter results.

Twitter’s quarterly revenue topped analyst expectations. It also reported a surprise rise in monthly active users, suggesting that its efforts to delete spam accounts and to police posts better were working to help attract more users and ad dollars.

Reporting by Makini Brice and Susan Heavey; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and David Gregorio